Producing The Global Imaginary: The Globalization Of Korean Pop Culture

Needless to say, it is obvious that K-pop is leading the trend of music history in contemporary Korean society. However, whether K-pop, an abbreviation for Korean pop music, actually reflects “Koreanness” into its music production is still questionable. Many people, especially nationalistic Koreans, conceive of K-pop as purely Korean music genre. On the contrary, the two articles: “Producing the Global Imaginary: A K-pop tropology” and “What Is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular Music, the Culture Industry, and National Identity” illustrate on how K-pop reflects “Brand Korea” in a global context, rather than featuring “Koreanness”. Both of the articles analyze K-pop as a “product of the globalization of music production companies”, which

Rather than illustrating K-pop with its relation to domestic consumers, the article explains about K-pop for non-Korean audiences from all over the world, such as Southeast and East Asia, Europe, and Latin America. This is due to the fact that entertainment companies no longer only target domestic markets, but have moved to aim for “markets beyond national borders” (59). The article further elaborates on unique features of K-pop and transnational marketing strategies used by entertainment companies, which are deeply related to this change in consumption

Apart from complex linguistic components, K-pop songs utilize simple nonverbal features such as dance beat and repetitive hooks to attract listeners. The article defines hooks as “melodies revolving around a single note that is repeated many times” (99). These features enable listeners, including non-Koreans, to enjoy the songs although they may not know the language. Prominent examples of this easy-to-follow hook song would be PSY’s “Gangnam Style”, which had numerous repetitive verse of “oppan gangnam style” over and over. Such simplicity in lyric and catchy rhythm allowed listeners from all over the world to follow along, encouraging producers to come up with more hook songs (Koehler). Such examples clearly show how some scholars identify K-pop as a global product, which aims to fulfill the demand of worldwide